I’m a father for 11 years old carious boy and I would like to introduce him to some “electronic” based projects and code writing (he’s taking java coding at school). What is the recommendation to start with, Raspberry Pi micro-computer or Arduino micro-controller? Also are there any good projects to start with to gain experience and keep an 11 year old engaged? I’m looking to get help and ideas on how to jump start our journey.
Thanks.
I have a good solution here! I found a pcDuino Model 3 that costs around $60 dollars. Google around and you can catch them on sale 
And you can use the same board to run normal Arduino IDE to program the interface. The best of both the Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
Here are the specs:
Hardware Specifications
| Items | Details |
| CPU | AllWinner A20 SoC, 1GHz ARM Cortex A7 Dual Core |
| GPU | OpenGL ES2.0, OpenVG 1.1, Mali 400 Dual Core |
| DRAM | 1GB |
| Onboard Storage | 4GB Flash, microSD card (TF) slot for up to 32GB |
| Video Output | HDMI 1.4 with HDCP support |
| OS |
|
| Arduino extension interface | Arduino sockets, same as Arduino UNO 14xGPIO, 2xPWM, 6xADC, 1xUART, 1xSPI, 1xI2C |
| Network interface |
|
| Audio out |
|
| LCD | LVDS |
| IR | IR receiver |
| SATA | SATA Host socket |
| Camera | MIPI |
| Battery | Li-Poly Battery Interface |
| USB | 1 x USB host, 1xUSB OTG |
| Power | 5V, 2000mA |
| Overall Size | 121mm x 65mm |
Cheers,
Clem
